THE ART OF SPEAKING

Blake Frame, sophomore, has refined his craft of public speaking through heavy involvement in performance oriented extracurriculars, such as mock trial, Project Civitas and debate.

Of his many obligations, Frame serves as the president and founder of the mock trial club. After its launch in 2017, mock trial has worked tirelessly to study and form trials around cases.

“It’s something I take a lot of pride in,” said Frame. “We’re doing a lot of cool projects this year in mock trial’s second year.”

Frame, a political science major, also serves as the president of Project Civitas, a club that advocates the importance of civility in our communities. Besides being the president of these clubs, Frame also participates in G.A.M.E Club and volunteers as a part-time substitute for the debate team.

“Because of my background with mock trial and Model UN, I was asked my freshman year to fill an open position on the debate team,” said Frame. “I’ve never debated before so I was hesitant.”

The debate team needed Frame to fill in for an upcoming tournament, but he was unsure how it would unfold. He had never attended a practice session or even witnessed a parliamentary debate.

Frame’s presence was imperative, though. Without him, the debate team would have been left with an uneven number of participants, leaving one member without a teammate and unable to compete.

“I had challenged myself to say yes to everything that scared me,” said Frame. “Debating with no training or experience at all was terrifying. So, I said yes.”

Partnered with Will Conway, Frame went on to win that tournament, a true testament to the sophomore’s silver tongue. Public speaking frightens most, but not Frame. Instead, speaking in front of others comes naturally to him.

“Honestly, I don’t really think when I’m speaking,” said Frame. “I know that sounds counterintuitive, but I find that as long as I know what I’m talking about and study up before, I’m able to just flow, which prevents me from getting nervous.”

Frame believes that the key to success in public speaking is to remain calm and not overthink it.

“[People need to] spend less time preparing a script and focus on studying what they’re going to be talking about,” said Frame. “Then, just get up there, don’t think about it and have fun with it.”

Even for a simple class presentation, Frame believes that body language is another key aspect for success.

“I try to keep my hands on my hips when I talk,” said Frame. “This sounds weird, but body language is imperative. “Standing in the ‘power pose’ has been proven to make you more confident!”

Frame was asked to fill in for debate again this year as a sophomore and he accepted. He and Conway went on to receive finalist honors at the event. All the while, he continues to work with the various organizations with which he is connected on campus.

As he moves forward in his Lynn career, Frame’s eloquent public speaking expertise promises to continue to benefit all of the clubs in which he participates.